Dental fracture wiring shield



July 13, 1931. c. M. WODWARD 2 086,656

DENTAL FRACTURE WIRING SHIELD Filed March 2'7, 1956 INVENTOR.

c. M WWW/4M2.

' ATTORN Patented July 13, 1937 -UNITED STATES PATENT Y OFFICE I 2,086,656 g DENTAL FRACTURE WIRING: SHIELD Charles Maynard Wodward, Pasadena, Calif. A Application March .27, 1936, Serial No. 71,200 A '7 '8 Claims. (01. 128-49) i v invention relates to combined dental fracturewiring buttons and shields.

The general object of the invention-is to provides; shield for dental or interdental wiring of maxillary fractures of-the-jaws. v I

: "Aupartic'ular-object of :my invention is to provide a novel combined button and shield for an interdental fracture wire which willprotect the cheek. against injury by engagement with the ends of the wire.

' A more "specific object of the invention is to provide a button and shield made of metal or other suitable material and comprising two parts, one of which receives the ends of the wire which are twisted to hold it in place, and the other part of which is. folded over onto the first part to prevent. the twisted'endsfrom injuring the cheek.

r'A more specificT'object of the invention is to provide a metal .button and shield including a body having means thereon to engage the ends of wire which are twisted and with a guard part on'the'body extending above the twisted ends of the wire to prevent the cheek from coming in contact with the twisted ends.

.= Another object of the inventionis to provide a novel anchor or button for inter and/or intramaxillary and interdental traction and/or retention.

Other objects and the advantages of the inventioniwill be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my improved dental fracture wiring shield;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are diagrammatical, fragmentary, plan views showing the manner in which the shield is secured in position;

Fig. 7 is a central, sectional view through one of the folded shields;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing the use of the shield;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a modified form of shield;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line l0l0 of Fig 9 showing the wire in place;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing another form of shield;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing another form of shield; and

Fig. 13 is a central, sectional view through the modified shield shown in Fig. 12.

Physiological conditions surrounding the reduction and healing of fractures of the bones of the jaws are the same as those found in the fractures of other bones but therev are certain physical features involved in handling fractures of the mandible and maxilla which make the problem of their reduction radically different from that of the other bones.

Physical features found in fractures of the jaw which aid in reduction are that the mandible has a modified hinge joint fixed to a rigid base at both ends of the bone with the strongest muscles attached to the mandible so placed that they 1 serve as partial splints. Also the muscular pull tending towards distortion is in most cases weak. Further, the teeth are in the nature of hard projections rigidly fastened to the bones and these become aids towards reductiong The bones of 15 the jaw alsoseem to be more resistant to infection in compound fractures than other bones. These aids to reduction are taken advantage of in the technic of dentaland interdental wiring and my invention relates to a simple wiring in reduction which includes novel appliances which can be very readily and effectively installed.

In the use of one embodiment of my invention I employ a combined wiring button and shield which is indicated in the accompanying drawing generally at I0. As shown this button comprises a circular base portion II and 'a guard portion or shield portion I2 conncctedby a neck l3. The portions. II and I2 are slightly cupped as shown and the base portion [2 is provided with a plurality of apertures M which are arranged near the center thereof.

In practice with my improved wiring buttons and shields a loop of dental floss indicated at [5 in Fig. 3 is preferably grasped by the jaws of a pair of pliers I6 and by this means a loop I! of steel wire is pulled around the tooth to the position shown in Fig. 4. The ends I8 of the wire I! are then passed through the apertures I 4 as shown in Fig. 4. These ends I 8 are then grasped by a suitable device by means of which they may be twisted as shown at l9'in Fig. 5. As the wires are twisted tight the base portion ll assumes the position shown in Fig. 5 in engagement with the tooth while the shield portion I2 is preferably disposed above the portion II. The free ends of the wire are then cut off and the shield portion I2 is turned on the neck E3 to the position shown in Fig. 6.

After a sufficient number of buttons have been placed, small orthodontia rubber bands 20 are looped over the wires in the rear of the buttons and shields as shown in Fig. 8. These rubber bands serve to provide constant traction which is tons employed and the arrangement of the rubber bands will depend upon the condition of the fracture also it will be understood that the arrangement of loops shown in Fig. 4 may bealtered without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I show a slight modification of my invention wherein the wire I'I has its ends I8 passing through apertures M in a button and shield member 10*. This member Ill is provided with a reentrant rim 2! so that the exposed edge 22 is inwardly directed where it will not be engaged by the cheek while the twisted portions w are protected.

In Fig. 11 a combined button and shield is shown as comprising a spring wire clip 25 provided with apertures 26 through which the ends of a wire 27, areinserted .and twisted as at 28. The ends 29 of the resilient'member 25 are bent inwardly to form loops.

In Fig. 12 a combined button and shield indicated generally at 30 comprises a front memher 3! and a rear member 32 which are sufiiciently resilient'to hold a set position such as shown in Fig. 13. The member 32 is provided with a slot 33 in which the ends of a wire 34 having a split shot 35 thereon may be inserted. This split .shot 35 receives the ends of the wire 34 which are twisted beyond the shot as at 36 while my new. guard 30 serves to protect the cheek from strikingthe endsof the wire.

The guard and shield members may be made of suitable metal or composition.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have provided a novel fracture wiring button and shield which can be readily applied and which is highly efficient in use.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. For use in the wiring of maxillary fractures of the jaw, a button including a body, a wire having itsends twisted together and engaging the face of the body, said button including a guard portion arranged over the twisted. ends.

2. For use in the wiring of maxillary fractures of the jaw, a button comprising a base portion and a guard portion, said base portion having a pair of apertures therein, a wire having its ends passing through said apertures, said ends being twisted together on one face of the button, said guard including a portion overlying the apertures.

3. For use in thewlring of maxillary fractures of the jaw, a button comprising a metal member having a pair of apertures at one end, said button being cupped at said one end to engage a tooth on the convex side of the cup portion, a wire having its ends passing through said apertures, said ends being twisted together on one face of the button, said button including a portion overlying the apertures.

4. For use in the wiring of maxillary fractures of the jaw, a button having a pair of apertures therein, a wire having its ends passing through said apertures, said ends being twisted together on one face of the button, said button including two parts, one of said parts being adapted to be folded over upon the other part.

5. For use in the wiring of maxillary fractures of the jaw, a button including a cupped body having a pair of apertures therein, a wire having its ends passing through said apertures, said-ends being twisted together on one face of the button, said button including a guard, said guard being adapted to be folded over upon the body to cover the ends of the wire.

6. In a wiring device for fractures, a button having a pair of apertures therein, a wire having its ends passing through said apertures, said ends being twisted together on one face of the button, said button comprising a cupped base member having a reentrant portion at its top.

'7. In a wiring device for maxillary fractures, a button having a pair of apertures therein, a wire having its endspassing through said apertures, said ends being twisted together on one face of thebutton, said button comprising a base having a pair of spring metal members having their end portions bent to resiliently engage each other.

8. The method of wiring a maxillary fracture comprising inserting dental floss between adjacent teeth, pulling a metal wire through the space between the teeth, passing the ends of the wire through a button member which includes a guard portion and twisting the ends of the wire upon the button member and below the outer face of the guard portion to hold them in place.

CHARLES MAYNARD WOODWARD. 

